PAKISTAN: Chinese locomotive manufacturer CSR Ziyang announced on February 4 that it had received of letters of credit enabling it to go ahead with the construction of 50 passenger and freight locomotives ordered by Pakistan's Ministry of Railways in December at a cost of 640m yuan.Half of the 50 diesel locomotives are to be of 2 000 to 2 500 hp with a top speed of 120 km/h, and the remaining 25 will be rated at 3 000 to 3 500 hp with a maximum speed of 140 km/h. All will be designed for use in harsh and dusty environments with temperatures up to 55°C. CSR Ziyang said it expects to deliver an initial 10 locomotives by the end of 2013, and the remainder by the end of May 2014. The company said it has previous exported almost 600 locomotives to 22 countries, and Pakistan will be the 23rd. PR currently has two classes of Chinese-designed locomotives supplied by CNR Dalian from China or assembled locally in Risalpur from 2004. PR has suffered from a critical shortage of working traction in recent years, and its plans for the procurement of additional locomotives became mired in long-running political debate. CSR Nanjing Puzhen has won a contract to supply 154 coaches to Turkmenistan, with delivery this year. The order comprises hard and soft sleeping cars as well as generator, dining and luggage vehicles. More...
